With Frontier resuming service to San Antonio, it was time to head back and visit the iconic Riverwalk (Websites: https://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_River_Walk ), where there is plenty to do. I posted other information below, which is still useful. On this trip we tried an iconic San Antonio eating institution, Mia Terra (Website: http://www.mitierracafe.com/ ), which opened in 1941. San Antonio will be celebrating its 300th Birthday in 2018 (Website: http://visitsanantonio.com/300 ), which is a great reason to go and check it out in the next few months!
Enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Summers - March 2007:
San Antonio is a nice two-day or three-day trip (if you head south to Corpus Christi). It's only a One and one-half hour drive from Austin. I think that you'll need to rent a car to get around. I usually don't rent from Alamo Rent-A-Car, but they were cheapest on my trip. The Riverwalk is the main attraction in San Antonio. This website (http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/ ) has all the information that you'l need . Bring an appetite because there are many places to eat like the Casa Rio (Website: http://casa-rio.com/history.htm ) or the Iron Cactus (which is a chain) Restaurant (Website: http://www.ironcactus.com/). We found a good happy hour at La Paloma (Website: http://www.palomariverwalk.com/ )
where you can sit right along the river. The Howl at the Moon is a great Piano Bar on the riverwalk on Crockett and Presa Streets with lots of fun and laughs on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night (Website: http://www.howlatthemoon.com/locations/location-san-antonio ). The Republic of Texas Restaurant and Nightclub is also a nice place to enjoy drinks and dance to a DJ (Website: http://www.therepublicoftexasrestaurant.com/ ) on the Riverwalk. Mad Dogs has a British Pub atmosphere with live bands, karoake, DJ’s and theme parties. MadDogs is also a decent sports bar on the Riverwalk. Here's their website: http://www.maddogs.net/ . There is also a Coyote Ugly restaurant for the young, hip crowd (Website: http://www.coyoteuglysaloon.com/ ). Near the Riverwalk is the famous Alamo. It's more or less surounded by downtown, but a must-see historic site. You'll want to read about the battle before you visit. Two websites: http://thealamo.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Alamowill help you. The Alamo is part of the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. It's one of five missions built in the 1700's. It's very easy to drive to them because they were all orginally built to be a day's drive (Websites: http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_Missions_National_Historical_Park and http://www.nps.gov/saan/planyourvisit/index.htm ) from each other, but cars have changed that! Most hotels on the Riverwalk cost over $100.00 per night. You can check Hotwire (Website: http://www.hotwire.com/) for cheap rates. In the middle of it all is an Embassy Suites, a Crowne Plaza, a Courtyard by Marriot, and a Holiday Inn Express. They will all charge an additional $20.00 to $25.00 per night for parking. We stayed at the Hotel Indigo which is about a ten minute walk along the Riverwalk from the main area, but the rooms are spacious and clean. They have a direct entrance onto the Riverwalk, and the staff is polite and helpful. Plus, parking is $13.00 per day and directly across the street. (Hotel Indigo Website: http://www.hotelindigo.com/h/d/in/1/en/hotel/SATSM?&sitrackingid=208996111&dp=true&siclientid=1933&siadid=282035450&simatchtype=e&externalHotelDetailHit=true ) . We loved the place. Ten miles north of town on Interstate 35 are two nice sites to visit. One is the Natural Bridge Caverns (Website: http://www.naturalbridgecaverns.com/ ) and the other is the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch where you drive through the ranch and have animals come up to your car (Website: http://www.wildliferanchtexas.com/ ). Our kids liked both. We also did a three day trip south of San Antonio to Corpus Christi and the nearby beaches of Mustang Island and the town of Port Aransas. The drive is about two and one-half hours south along Interstate 37. A quick caution, there are very few restaurants, gas stations, or fast food places along the way on I-37. Corpus Christi is a suprisingly large, clean city along the Gulf of Mexico (Websites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Christi,_Texas and http://www.visitcorpuschristitx.org/ ). Also, Corpus Christi is the proud home of the headquarters of Whataburger, the 'famous' hamburger restaurant chain. You'll see them everywhere. Two nice Mexican Restaurants in Corpus Christi are Ayala's Mexican Restaurant (No website, but directions: http://local.yahoo.com/info-19315667-ayala-s-mexican-restaurant-corpus-christi ) and La Playa Mexican Restaurant (Website: http://www.laplaya.cc/ ). The beaches of Mustang Island southeast of Corpus Christi near Port Aransas are great! First, you can drive and park on the beach (for a fee). Buy a cheap cooler at 7-11, fill with ice and beverages, and back you car up to your beach spot. Also buy a couple of $9.99 beach chairs at Wal-Mart. Second, the sand is very fine, and nice to walk on. (Websites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang_Island and http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/mustang_island/ ). Port Aransas is a nice, touristy town (Website: http://www.portaransas.org/ ). You can rent condos through the VRBO website (Website: http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/texas/gulf-coast ). There are many nice places to eat like Bundy's for breakfast (Website: http://www.bundysporta.com/ ) or the Port Aransas Brew Company (Website: http://www.portabrewing.com/ ) for lunch/dinner in Port Aransas. The Gulf water is very warm for swimming. You can make some great sand castles too! You are also near North Padre Island (Websites: http://onpadreisland.com/ and http://www.nps.gov/pais/index.htm ) and North Padre Island National Seashore, but we didn't visit that area. So, you can make your San Antonio trip a two-day visit, or include a beach trip to Corpus Christi and add another two or three days to your San Antonio trip. Also, Austin is about a 1.5 hour drive north from SanAntonio on Interstate 35. It's very easy to double-up on these two cities. Visit my Austin write-up on this website to learn more. Whatever you do, enjoy!
Mike Summers
Dale Canino - July 2007:
Not to do the Riverwalk is not to do San Antonio. Kinda like LoDo with a river next to it. If it is your first time there, take the boat tour, you will learn everything you need to know about SAT.
A great place to eat near the Riverwalk but not on it, is the Mi Tierra Cafe, www.mitierracafe.com. It is open 24/7, which is good since you will arrive in SAT late. The adult beverages and Mexican food are above average.
Allow extra time to get to and from the airport, as the road construction at the airport is never ending. A turn off is how everyone tells you that SAT is the seventh largest city in US. Yes it is, but that is only because the size of the city rivals the state of Texas for square miles. If it is was so great, they would have a football, baseball and hockey team.
All and all a nice place to visit. Remember the Alamo, next to a shopping mall and the River walk.
Becky Crozier - August 2006:
I recommend the oldest restaurant on the Riverwalk - Casa Rio. Their food is great and so are their prices,mostly because they own the land the restaurant sits on. I'm not sure who owns everything else, but that's what the waitress said. Their margs were watered down a bit, so I ordered top shelf, and then they were fine.
We stayed at a Comfort Inn that used to be a jail. It was on the bus route and only one block from the Riverwalk. It was about $80 and worth it, I thought.
We didn't rent a car - it is easy to get around on the bus for a couple bucks.
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San Antonio Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Antonio/Downtown
La Grange Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/La_Grange_(Texas)
New Braunfels Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/New_Braunfels
San Marcos Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Marcos_(Texas)
Corpus Christi Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Corpus_Christi
Port Aransas Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Port_Aransas
Mike Summers - November 2017:
With Frontier resuming service to San Antonio, it was time to head back and visit the iconic Riverwalk (Websites:
https://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_River_Walk ), where there is plenty to do. I posted other information below, which is still useful. On this trip we tried an iconic San Antonio eating institution, Mia Terra (Website: http://www.mitierracafe.com/ ), which opened in 1941. San Antonio will be celebrating its 300th Birthday in 2018 (Website: http://visitsanantonio.com/300 ), which is a great reason to go and check it out in the next few months!
Enjoy!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Summers - March 2007:
San Antonio is a nice two-day or three-day trip (if you head south to Corpus Christi). It's only a One and one-half hour drive from Austin. I think that you'll need to rent a car to get around. I usually don't rent from Alamo Rent-A-Car, but they were cheapest on my trip. The Riverwalk is the main attraction in San Antonio. This website (http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/ ) has all the information that you'l need . Bring an appetite because there are many places to eat like the Casa Rio (Website: http://casa-rio.com/history.htm ) or the Iron Cactus (which is a chain) Restaurant (Website: http://www.ironcactus.com/). We found a good happy hour at La Paloma (Website: http://www.palomariverwalk.com/ )
where you can sit right along the river. The Howl at the Moon is a great Piano Bar on the riverwalk on Crockett and Presa Streets with lots of fun and laughs on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night (Website: http://www.howlatthemoon.com/locations/location-san-antonio ). The Republic of Texas Restaurant and Nightclub is also a nice place to enjoy drinks and dance to a DJ (Website: http://www.therepublicoftexasrestaurant.com/ ) on the Riverwalk. Mad Dogs has a British Pub atmosphere with live bands, karoake, DJ’s and theme parties. MadDogs is also a decent sports bar on the Riverwalk. Here's their website: http://www.maddogs.net/ . There is also a Coyote Ugly restaurant for the young, hip crowd (Website: http://www.coyoteuglysaloon.com/ ). Near the Riverwalk is the famous Alamo. It's more or less surounded by downtown, but a must-see historic site. You'll want to read about the battle before you visit. Two websites: http://thealamo.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Alamowill help you. The Alamo is part of the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. It's one of five missions built in the 1700's. It's very easy to drive to them because they were all orginally built to be a day's drive (Websites: http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_Missions_National_Historical_Park and http://www.nps.gov/saan/planyourvisit/index.htm ) from each other, but cars have changed that! Most hotels on the Riverwalk cost over $100.00 per night. You can check Hotwire (Website: http://www.hotwire.com/) for cheap rates. In the middle of it all is an Embassy Suites, a Crowne Plaza, a Courtyard by Marriot, and a Holiday Inn Express. They will all charge an additional $20.00 to $25.00 per night for parking. We stayed at the Hotel Indigo which is about a ten minute walk along the Riverwalk from the main area, but the rooms are spacious and clean. They have a direct entrance onto the Riverwalk, and the staff is polite and helpful. Plus, parking is $13.00 per day and directly across the street. (Hotel Indigo Website:
http://www.hotelindigo.com/h/d/in/1/en/hotel/SATSM?&sitrackingid=208996111&dp=true&siclientid=1933&siadid=282035450&simatchtype=e&externalHotelDetailHit=true ) . We loved the place. Ten miles north of town on Interstate 35 are two nice sites to visit. One is the Natural Bridge Caverns (Website: http://www.naturalbridgecaverns.com/ ) and the other is the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch where you drive through the ranch and have animals come up to your car (Website: http://www.wildliferanchtexas.com/ ). Our kids liked both. We also did a three day trip south of San Antonio to Corpus Christi and the nearby beaches of Mustang Island and the town of Port Aransas. The drive is about two and one-half hours south along Interstate 37. A quick caution, there are very few restaurants, gas stations, or fast food places along the way on I-37. Corpus Christi is a suprisingly large, clean city along the Gulf of Mexico (Websites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Christi,_Texas and http://www.visitcorpuschristitx.org/ ). Also, Corpus Christi is the proud home of the headquarters of Whataburger, the 'famous' hamburger restaurant chain. You'll see them everywhere. Two nice Mexican Restaurants in Corpus Christi are Ayala's Mexican Restaurant (No website, but directions: http://local.yahoo.com/info-19315667-ayala-s-mexican-restaurant-corpus-christi ) and La Playa Mexican Restaurant (Website: http://www.laplaya.cc/ ). The beaches of Mustang Island southeast of Corpus Christi near Port Aransas are great! First, you can drive and park on the beach (for a fee). Buy a cheap cooler at 7-11, fill with ice and beverages, and back you car up to your beach spot. Also buy a couple of $9.99 beach chairs at Wal-Mart. Second, the sand is very fine, and nice to walk on. (Websites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang_Island and http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/mustang_island/ ). Port Aransas is a nice, touristy town (Website: http://www.portaransas.org/ ). You can rent condos through the VRBO website (Website: http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/texas/gulf-coast ). There are many nice places to eat like Bundy's for breakfast (Website: http://www.bundysporta.com/ ) or the Port Aransas Brew Company (Website: http://www.portabrewing.com/ ) for lunch/dinner in Port Aransas. The Gulf water is very warm for swimming. You can make some great sand castles too! You are also near North Padre Island (Websites: http://onpadreisland.com/ and http://www.nps.gov/pais/index.htm ) and North Padre Island National Seashore, but we didn't visit that area. So, you can make your San Antonio trip a two-day visit, or include a beach trip to Corpus Christi and add another two or three days to your San Antonio trip. Also, Austin is about a 1.5 hour drive north from SanAntonio on Interstate 35. It's very easy to double-up on these two cities. Visit my Austin write-up on this website to learn more. Whatever you do, enjoy!
Mike Summers
Dale Canino - July 2007:
Not to do the Riverwalk is not to do San Antonio. Kinda like LoDo with a river next to it. If it is your first time there, take the boat tour, you will learn everything you need to know about SAT.
A great place to eat near the Riverwalk but not on it, is the Mi Tierra Cafe, www.mitierracafe.com. It is open 24/7, which is good since you will arrive in SAT late. The adult beverages and Mexican food are above average.
Allow extra time to get to and from the airport, as the road construction at the airport is never ending. A turn off is how everyone tells you that SAT is the seventh largest city in US. Yes it is, but that is only because the size of the city rivals the state of Texas for square miles. If it is was so great, they would have a football, baseball and hockey team.
All and all a nice place to visit. Remember the Alamo, next to a shopping mall and the River walk.
Becky Crozier - August 2006:
I recommend the oldest restaurant on the Riverwalk - Casa Rio. Their food is great and so are their prices,mostly because they own the land the restaurant sits on. I'm not sure who owns everything else, but that's what the waitress said. Their margs were watered down a bit, so I ordered top shelf, and then they were fine.
We stayed at a Comfort Inn that used to be a jail. It was on the bus route and only one block from the Riverwalk. It was about $80 and worth it, I thought.
We didn't rent a car - it is easy to get around on the bus for a couple bucks.